There is a silent epidemic sweeping through advanced societies. The cause is not a virus but the result of societal changes. This is the epidemic of loneliness that The Economist recently dubbed “the leprosy of the 21st century.”
The size of the problem
“Studies conducted in different parts of the world, but most notably in the US and UK, have shown that up to 50 percent of the population could suffer from loneliness,” says Diego de Leo, psychiatrist, president of the fifth AIP National Holiday Solitude in the Old Man, held in Padua at the Altinate San Gaetano Cultural Center. “They are alone children and young people, alone are also young mothers, divorced people, old people, people who care for them and people in bereavement. In fact, countries like Norway, Denmark and Finland have been signaling the seriousness and scale of the loneliness problem for some time. A study sponsored by the Fondation de France has shown that there are several million French people who declare themselves to be single and suffer from this condition. “Not to mention Japan, where the problem of loneliness has reached dramatic proportions and has also given rise to gruesome depictions of living alone, such as the Kodokushi phenomenon, dying in utter solitary ways and often unknown to others.”
In Italy
Italy is no less, since Istat had already reported in 2018 the existence of a serious problem of loneliness, especially among the elderly. “Around 30 percent of the over 75-year-olds state that they have no reference person in case of need, and only eleven percent of the senior citizens surveyed state that they can count on support from a neighbor in case of need. A worrying situation given that Italy is one of the countries with the greatest demographic imbalances, with the over-65s already accounting for almost 25% of the total population. And according to OECD estimates, by 2050 Italy will be the third oldest country on earth after Japan and Spain».
After 75 years
It must be said that people aged 65-74 in high-income countries are generally in good health and continue to enjoy satisfactory levels of social inclusion and resource availability as they did at younger ages.
On the other hand, it is people over the age of 75 who often begin to show signs of physical or mental deterioration and are therefore at risk of crossing the threshold of dependence on others. So much so that the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics (Sigg) has proposed to formally postpone the start of the “official” age to 75, in a more contemporary perspective. “The idea of being part of a demographic shaped by people who are still considered functionally active, dynamic, and full of resources can only lead to a greater sense of acceptance,” De Leo says again. “And thus in the possibility of creating better health conditions”.